


The Violinist

by TheHyperWriter



Series: Hyper's Random Team Fortress Fics (ALL OF THEM) [3]
Category: Team Fortress 2
Genre: Alternate Universe - Victorian, Busking, Christmas, Christmas Eve, Classical Music, De-Aged Characters, Friendship, Gen, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Inspired by A Christmas Carol (Kinda), Musical Instruments, Period Typical Attitudes, Short & Sweet, The Power Of Music DAMMIT, Wholesomeness Alert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:20:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28152267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheHyperWriter/pseuds/TheHyperWriter
Summary: In 1841, a young German-Jewish university student in London, struggling to pay off his lodging fees, resorts to busking in streets and pubs to earn some extra scratch. His wanderings around the city make him quite well-known in his area, with many stopping to hear his music.Until one Christmas Eve, a stranger at London’s busy port gives him the oddest request he’s ever had.
Series: Hyper's Random Team Fortress Fics (ALL OF THEM) [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2020090
Comments: 2
Kudos: 23





	1. The Lad With The Fiddle

**Author's Note:**

> Yet another Heavy and Medic friendship story. I love to write these two as friends!
> 
> And just in time for the Christmas season, too!

Ludwig sat at the work desk in his tiny apartment, sawing away at the fingers of a pair of woolen gloves with a pair of scissors with a pile of medical essays swept off to one side of the table. He hadn’t had time to sharpen the scissors, so it was a chore to hack away at the thick fabric without unravelling the entire thing. The wool gloves hindered his performance and he decided that cutting the garments’ fingers off would be a quick and dirty method to make him sound better without having to remove the gloves entirely.

Especially with the current freezing winter that had hit London recently. 

He usually would ask for leave in fall and be off visiting his family in Germany for Christmas. But it had been a very busy year for him and he sadly hadn’t found the time. Finishing up with his slapdash glove modifications, he grabbed his violin case and moved to leave, pulling on a black overcoat and his now-fingerless gloves. 

Once he stepped out, he felt the bitter cold of London’s winter as he breezed down the walkway, searching for a clear spot. He made it to the central area of town and set up in a street corner. As soon as he put his bow to the strings and started playing, it was like the world around him had fallen away and ceased to exist. Ludwig grew completely absorbed in his music. His fingers flew across the violin’s fingerboard, performing complex-looking trills and glissandos with ease. The vibrant, rhythmic melody he played made one feel like dancing along, which sliced through the dreary, grey winter air like a knife. 

But people stopped to watch, looks of recognition on their faces. They knew who he was: the young man who played violin in the street. He came every weekend afternoon to perform and his cheerful music and almost carefree attitude and charm was beautifully infectious. Some came forward and left loose change in his open violin case, sending a smile of appreciation his way. 

Ludwig finished the tune with a flourish, and was met with applause, which he returned by launching into another song. Many of the richer-looking folk didn’t look very pleased to see or hear another street performer. In fact, some shouted at him to keep quiet, but he didn’t bother to listen. 

It wasn’t long before he decided it was time to pack up and move on. He ended off his last song with a polite bow and thanks to the audience, before putting his violin and bow back into its case and going on his way. 

He headed to the docks. He had other places to be.


	2. A Warm Christmas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAH!! I'm really sorry this came out so late! My Christmas week has been very busy and I didn't have time to upload!
> 
> Christmas is over already so this doesn't exactly fit the season as much as I wanted it to, sadly.

Ludwig was playing his violin again, this time near the hustle and bustle of London’s port. 

From where he stood, he had a view of the grey ocean and the crowded docks, full of ships covered in fresh snow like everything else in London. The folk there were hardier, many of them sailors who had seen many things out at sea, as well as traders from other places who arrived with foreign goods to sell. 

A sparse crowd had gathered around him, the bright sound of the violin lifting their spirits in the cold evening. It was Christmas Eve, after all, and it was nice to see something that could make you smile - even if it was something as small as hearing joyous music from a street performer. Especially on a grim and gloomy day like this one. 

Ludwig was packing up for the night, having finished his last song and was now kneeling down in the snow to put away his violin when he sensed someone step towards him out from the dispersing crowd,

“You play music?” A deep, Russian-accented voice said.

He glanced up and was met with a man around his age, who was peering down at him from his massive height. It was slightly intimidating. Men like these were usually as strong as they were tall. 

“Yes, I do. What can I do for you, my friend?” He straightened slowly and picked up his violin case.

“Will little man play for my family?”

Ludwig was taken aback. He had never been asked to personally perform to people before. But he didn’t have anything planned for Christmas this year. Perhaps this would be a good experience. 

“Alright.” He said, “Let’s go!”

The Russian man’s stoic face brightened a tad as Ludwig followed him along the docks.

* * *

“Misha’s sister is sick. Has flu.”

  
  
“So you feel that I can cheer her up with my music?”

“Yes. I have seen you make people happy.”

They were at the front door of a large house - reasonably sized with 3 floors and with windows gleaming from the warm amber light inside. Snow fell thickly from the night sky; suggesting a blizzard was brewing soon. 

“Family is having party with guests.” Misha said, pushing Ludwig into the warmth of the house and shutting the door behind them, “Stay quiet.”

Avoiding the large main room, which was full of chatter and laughter in English and Russian, Ludwig followed Misha up a flight of stairs to the second floor, where a bedroom with a closed door stood in their way. Misha knocked before letting himself and Ludwig in. A young girl, about 14 years old, was sitting up in a bed in a nightgown. She was pale, and had a drippy nose that she kept wiping at with her sleeve. She was shivering despite the fact that the room was warm.

Misha gestured to her, “This is Bronislava, my sister.”

Ludwig smiled and gave a polite “Hello.” in return. The girl, Bronislava only nodded in reply, too miserable to speak. 

He heard Misha and Bronislava talk back and forth in Russian as he took a moment to take out his violin and tune it; he didn’t actually need to do that. His violin sounded perfect. But his nerves from the thought of performing for someone personally for the first time made his fingers and ears itch for something to do. Bronislava glanced at him from time to time, watching him busy himself with his preparations. 

Just as he finished, Misha spoke to him, asking him to begin. 

Ludwig took a breath to calm his nerves, gingerly rested his violin under his chin with his bow on the strings and started playing. The piece he played started out slightly less upbeat and rhythmic than the ones he’d played today - it was slower and more soothing, but beautiful nonetheless. Slowly, Ludwig fell into his usual flow, with his music drowning out his anxiety. 

Misha’s sister was beaming, and kept chattering to her big brother in Russian as Ludwig made his way through at least 3 songs that night. When his little performance finally came to an end, he was met with soft applause from both Misha and his sister as he took a deep bow, breathing a sigh of relief when he realised he had enjoyed himself and performing like this wasn’t so bad.

The bedroom door swung open suddenly and two older girls burst in, both dressed quite nicely. They stared in surprise at Ludwig, who probably looked like he had appeared out of nowhere. 

“Brother!” The eldest girl, one with dark hair done back in a long braid, said to Misha, “Who is this man? And how did he get into Broni’s room?”

Misha glanced at Ludwig, giving a nod before replying, 

“Misha brought him in to cheer up little Bronislava. Do not worry, Zhanna. He is no danger to us.”

“No wonder! We could hear the music from downstairs!” The other girl, one with long blonde hair remarked, “It’s very nice, and we came up to investigate.”

Ludwig looked at the bedroom clock: almost midnight.

“Well, I don’t have plans for Christmas, and I would not mind playing for your family and guests.” He said, "Would that be good?"

And by the smiles on everyone’s faces, he could tell the answer was ‘yes’.

**Author's Note:**

> Second chapter will be out by tomorrow (I hope).
> 
> [Here's](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFifpg7PIoM) something to give you a sense of what Medic is playing.


End file.
